


Those You've Known

by tealeafling



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Missing Scene, not a fix-it in any way but it still makes me feel better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 21:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tealeafling/pseuds/tealeafling
Summary: Beau spends a moment on the beach with an old friend.





	Those You've Known

**Author's Note:**

> guys I love Beau & Molly friendship so much. it's so good. they're like horrible siblings and it's wonderful. and apparently I also love making myself and other people sad so I wrote this, hope you enjoy.

Despite her best efforts, Beau began to grow restless after only three minutes of meditation. She shifted back and forth, trying to stay focused.

“Really, Beau? I thought you were trained as a monk. Even _I_ could sit still longer than this.”

Without opening her eyes, Beau raised her right hand, shortly followed by her right middle finger. 

“Fuck off, obnoxious one.” Then, more softly: “You’re not actually here.”

She heard a snort. “And how did you come to that conclusion?” A scuffling sound on the rocks next to her, as if someone were sitting down. “You didn’t even _look_ to see if I was here. I’m a bit offended, unpleasant one.”

Beau breathed in deep, steadying herself with the salty aroma of the sea. Then she opened her eyes.

Seated directly to her right was the tiefling they had buried outside Shady Creek Run, sitting on top of the coat they had left fluttering over his grave. Looking alive, uninjured, and completely _real._

Beau let out a shaky breath, glancing towards the rest of the party further down the beach. If they could see Mollymauk next to her, they made no indication of such.

“You can’t be—“ She broke off, scrubbing a hand over her face. And if she felt any wetness on it, it was _definitely_ from the ocean spray. “Alright, okay, magic and whatever exists, so I guess I can’t really rule anything out. So tell me, have I gone completely insane, or are you actually a ghost or some shit?”

Molly grinned wildly and leaned back on his elbows, staring out at the great blue expanse before him. The ocean breeze tousled his dark violet curls, and the jewelry in his horns clinked gently. “I think I’ll leave that up to you to decide, put a little mystery in your life.”

Out of pure instinct, Beau leaned over to shove him playfully.

And her hand met a solid surface.

She flinched back immediately, eyes wide, almost falling into the surf. “You... you’re not—“

“I’m not.” Molly smiled sadly, tilting his head down and running his hands through the waves. “No, I’m still where you left me. Vacated that body, moved onto whatever the hell it is that lies beyond this plane.”

They sat silently for a long moment, the only noise the waves around them.

“You shouldn’t have done that, man. You sacrificed yourself to let me get away.” Beau turned towards him, clenching her fists. “You _dick._ Do you know how hard it was to tell Jester, Fjord, _Yasha_ that you died on our watch? We went through Trostenwald, you know. We had to tell Gustav that you’re dead. Someday we might see Toya and whoever the hell else was in that circus, and we’ll have to tell them why you’re not with us. It _sucks,_ Molly, and it’s _your fault.”_

Molly’s eyes hardened. He straightened, tail lashing behind him, and opened his mouth.

“Oh, no, I’m not done,” she said forcefully, jabbing her finger into his chest, which was clearly missing the gaping wound that had taken him away. “You’re _dead,_ Molly, and it took your fucking death for me to realize how good you were.” Her eyes started flowing, but once the words started coming out she couldn’t stop. “Sure, you were an obnoxious, ostentatious asshole, but you were _good._ The world was better with you in it, Molly, and you had to _die_ for me to notice.”

Molly was uncharacteristically silent. His pupil-less eyes felt like they were boring into her soul—which, honestly, maybe they were, since she knew fuck all about ghosts or whatever the hell he was.

“It was worth it for you to get out of there,” he began softly. “Bloody hell, Beau, it’s not like I _wanted_ to die. But there was no other way that could have ended.”

Beau laughed, short and mirthless. “You know damn well there was another way. You might’ve gotten out of there if you hadn’t done that blood maledict shit. You could’ve gotten out of there if I’d—“

“Don’t.” Molly’s gaze was as icy as his scimitars as he cut her off. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. Don’t _any_ of you dare blame yourselves for what happened. This was no one’s fault but that bastard Lorenzo’s, and I won’t let any of you take the blame for it.” Now _he_ sniffed, wiping at his eyes angrily with his forearm. “Gods, this isn’t how I wanted this to go. Can we—can we not argue right now? Just this one time.” 

_Just this last time_ were the unspoken words left hanging in the ocean air.

Beau let out a ragged sigh. “I never would’ve thought I’d say this, but I wish you were here. Like, _actually_ here. I feel like you would've liked this place.” 

The sounds of seagulls were picking up as they began to swarm around Nott, for some reason. But otherwise, the beach was tranquil, as the waves crashed along the shore and the sun gently edged towards the horizon.

Molly hummed in agreement. “I can see why Jester and Fjord love it so much. It just goes on _forever._ I don’t think I ever saw anything this…” He waved his hand, searching for the right word.

“Big?”

He barked out a laugh. “Just as capable with words as always, Beauregard. I’m glad to see you haven’t changed a bit.” Then he glanced at her with a strange glint in his eye, a look of fondness mixed with grief. “Don’t any of you go forgetting about me,” he said abruptly. “By all means, keep going on with your lives, but… just, you know, keep me in your hearts and all that.”

Replicating Molly’s own wide grin from just a few minutes prior, Beau smiled. “Oh, there’s no way we could forget someone as obnoxious as you. I can’t even tell you how many wild things we’ve done, yelling that it’s what you would’ve wanted.”

The tiefling’s face erupted into joy once more as he said, in a perfectly deadpan voice, “Good.”

And he shoved Beau into the water.

It was still relatively shallow as far out on the rocks as they were, but Beau still breathed in a mouthful of brine as she went under the surface unexpectedly. She pushed back up, coughing and sputtering.

“Beau?” A voice yelled out from down the shore—Fjord. “You doin’ alright over there?”

She pushed a few wet strands of hair out of her face and turned back to the rock she had been seated on. It was empty.

Beau stared for a moment, bobbing up and down with the swells of the sea. _Did that really just happen?_

She shook her head, water flying as her hair fanned out around her. “Yeah, Fjord, everything’s fine.” And honestly, for the first time in a long time, it really was.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song "Those You've Known" from Spring Awakening, my favorite song in the show! damn for such an asexual person, I sure do love that sexy ass musical.
> 
> I low-key wanted to make the title related to "The Song of Purple Summer" because, hey, purple! but even though the M9 is at the beach, it's still the middle of winter for them. oh well.
> 
>  
> 
> also, completely unrelated: I'm about to DM my own D&D campaign with a setting I made myself, and I gotta say, I have so much appreciation for Matt Mercer!!! he's sharing this world he made with thousands upon thousands of people, and I'm sharing the one I made with, like, five, and it's still terrifying. Matt Mercer is truly a god among men.


End file.
